I had a MLD Burn (acutally up for sale on GS now for a really good price, John M) and recently bought a MLD Prophet. Its the perfect pack for me. I highly recomend it...even at the steep price. If you get a pack you like, it will last you years. If I had to do it all over again and was on a tighter budget, the Borah Gear pack looks great.

If you try on the Osprey Hornet, be sure to test it with a load that's the heaviest load you'll carry. In my experience, the weak connection between bag and hip belt results in sagging of the bag and an effective increase in torso length that can really mess with the fit. I'm not suggesting you discount the pack entirely (there's much to like about it), but you'll want to look out for this.

There are a few other posts mentioning the Granite Gear Crown. I recently bought one and, much like yourself, I searched high and low before I made a purchase. For me the cottage brand packs were out since I could not try one on. They may be most excellent but there are excellent shoes that don't fit my feet!Anyways, I did look at the Osprey packs and I decided against any of their packs because they have tons of features. Lots of straps, buckles, pockets, etc. The Granite Gear pack is much more simple, cheaper and is pretty large for the weight. The general feel of the pack was something that will have a good balance between weight/durability/comfort with the loads (15-30lb) I plan on carrying.

Thanks for all the insight. So to test things out and stay within my price range of $150 or less, I think I'm going to start at REI tomorrow night and test out some Ospreys and the Flash 45 if I can find it. After I carry them around the store I'll hopefully have a better idea of whether or not I need a frame. Then I might buy something used on Gear Swap or one of the packs that falls in my range new (Borah Stealth).

Keep the replies coming though, I'm having fun researching these packs. Granite Gear looks nice but they prices seem primo compared to the cottage brands. Is it just that GG and Osprey can charge more so they do, or is it based on a lot of tech that gets put into their packs?

I'd avoid the Granite Gear Crown. I carried it all last season, and it has some serious design flaws--the Vapor Current backpanel is just marketing hype and hurts the packs' ability to carry well. Granite Gear could make it simpler, cheaper, and lighter with a solid foam (or even better, fabric) backpanel and aluminum stays. It would carry a lot better too.

That said, the hipbelt is the best I've seen on a UL pack. I like it even better than the ULA Circuit/Catalyst/Ohm belt too, and it's a full 2 ounces lighter.